


Like real people do

by dylanapollo



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Canon Compliant, Domestic Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I promise, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Panic Attacks, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape/Non-con Elements, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, basically me just projecting my trauma on taako, be safe, it ends happy, it gets dark but then it gets better, love u guys, please do not read if you're triggered by this stuff, the major character death is for like, two whole minutes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:27:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dylanapollo/pseuds/dylanapollo
Summary: [Title is from 'Like real people do' by Hozier]Taako was much too young when he met Sazed. Despite being much, much, much older than the human was, he still had a demeanor far more...mature? intelligent? responsible?than the elf. They had met in a tavern, after one of his shows. Taako, drunk, giggling, high off of the applause and crowds. Sazed, quiet, dark, handsome, just...watching.He watched as the elf excused himself from the bar to freshen up, bumping into several other patrons on his way, mumbling tipsy apologies. He watched as the dragon-born bartender quickly slid something into the half-empty drink that Taako left behind, eyes shifting left and right to make sure nobody saw. He watched as the blonde returned and finished the drink, almost immediately slipping out of his chair in a panic becausesomething inside him felt wrong, something was wrong, he had to get out.Sazed watched, silent, imposing, careful. Waiting for the right moment to strike.An exploration of the effect the abusive relationship Taako had with Sazed affects his current relationship with Kravitz.
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans & Taako, Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Davenport/Merle Highchurch, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Lup & Taako (The Adventure Zone), Magnus Burnsides & Merle Highchurch & Taako, Magnus Burnsides & Taako, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sazed/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Like real people do

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys! some brief notes/warnings for you all. first and foremost, the purpose of this fic is to explore the difficulties of navigating normal, healthy relationships after being subjected to abuse in past relationships. that being said, there are major themes of domestic/physical/sexual abuse throughout, as well as themes of suicide which will crop up towards the end of fic (which i aim to be about 7/8 chapters long). yes, i am largely projecting my own traumas onto these characters. yes, it's important to explore and discuss these themes in a mature and healthy way. however. i strongly urge anyone who has a hard time reading about these topics to sit this one out - i very much don't want to trigger anyone. 
> 
> anyway, that being said, i'm very pleased with how this is turning out so far and hope you all enjoy! comments and critiques are always welcome. 
> 
> CHAPTER TW/CW FOR: implied/referenced rape/non-con, implied/referenced domestic violence and abuse, implied/referenced drugging, alcohol, gaslighting, implied/referenced murder (glamour springs).
> 
> this chapter takes place AFTER the events of the stolen century and BEFORE/DURING the events at glamor springs. all characters belong to the mcelroy family. i do not consent to this work being re-published.

Taako was much too young when he met Sazed. Despite being much, much,  _ much  _ older than the human was, he still had a demeanor far more... _ mature? intelligent? responsible?  _ than the elf. They had met in a tavern, after one of his shows. Taako, drunk, giggling, high off of the applause and crowds. Sazed, quiet, dark, handsome, just... _ watching.  _ He watched as the elf excused himself from the bar to freshen up, bumping into several other patrons on his way, mumbling tipsy apologies. He watched as the dragon-born bartender quickly slid something into the half-empty drink that Taako left behind, eyes shifting left and right to make sure nobody saw. He watched as the blonde returned and finished the drink, almost immediately slipping out of his chair in a panic because  _ something inside him felt wrong, something was wrong, he had to get out _ . Sazed watched, silent, imposing, careful. Waiting for the right moment to strike. 

Taako was much too trusting when he met Sazed. Despite the emotional walls he had weaved into an ever-present cloak around his slender shoulders, he was still  _ greatly  _ inexperienced in the real world, greatly new and raw and much,  _ much _ too flippant. The human approached as soon as he had noticed the elf beginning to slur his words and stumble towards the exit. A friendly, no,  _ concerned _ stranger, eager to provide assistance and help the young man away from his would-be attacker. The bartender glared as Sazed approached the boy and quickly turned towards the back room, to hide his face? to run? to establish an alibi? the reason was not apparent. Whatever the cause, it seemed Taako was safe. Safe. Safe. 

_ “Hey, are you feeling okay?” _

_ Taako looked up through a haze of alcohol and nausea into the kind eyes of the taller man. He had opened his mouth to respond - of course, of course, he was Taako, the newly minted, fresh off the presses Taako, had you seen the show? had you tried the food? had you heard the reviews? that answer never came. Instead, he leaned forward, heaving, emptying the contents of his stomach on the floor of the pub. Sazed jumped forward, catching him as he lurched and deftly guiding him away from his own bile. _

_ “I’ll take that as a no.” _

_ Taako couldn’t help but snort, bringing another wave of vomit up from his throat. Something was burning - his eyes, his stomach, his mouth. Who was this man? Had he met him before? Were they talking before he so abruptly tried to leave? He smiled blearily up at him. He still had an image to maintain, after all.  _

_ “Oh, no, I’m fine, baby, I’m Taako.” _

_ Sazed knew that, of course. How could he not? Word of the dazzling elf with the otherworldly food and enchanting smile had reached far and wide across the lands; everyone had heard of him by now. Everyone had loved him, by now. He reached out impulsively and tucked a strand of shining golden hair away from the elf’s face. A beat. Too forward? Too much? Too soon? No, Taako didn’t even seem to notice. He was too busy bent over, retching out the last bits of the drugs in his stomach.  _

_ “A lightweight, eh?” _

_ “Guess so.”  _

_ The boy looked up again, blinking away the stars in his eyes, and Sazed noticed the yellow freckles dotting his nose and cheeks for the first time. He was beautiful, even in this state of disarray. Too beautiful for his own good, perhaps.  _

_ “Were you looking for something? An autograph, perhaps?” _

_ An attempt at a brilliant smile as Taako straightened back up, a hand still pressed against his stomach. His purple shawl was spoiled now, loosely cascading down his delicate form to hang, restless, around his trembling knees. Sazed smiled back with a dazzling, comforting, familiar warmth. Taako’s ears flicked forward, curious, perhaps, at what intentions the handsome stranger had. _

_ “No, nothing of the sort. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. I- I thought I saw the bartender slip something into your drink.”  _

_ The ears were pinned back to his neck now, just for a moment. Something flashed across those big blue eyes, something raw and fearful and, for the moment, new. Just for a beat, a second, even so, much longer than Taako intended.  _

_ “I-uh-oh, then thank you for saving me, handsome. We’ve only just met; it would be a shame for this connection to be extinguished so soon, wouldn’t it?”  _

_ There it was, that drawl, that cheek, that confidence. Sazed leaned forward, wiping a bit of moisture off of the corner of the star’s mouth. He could have sworn he saw him flinch, but only momentarily. He smiled.  _

_ “I think it would be.” _

Taako was too naive when he met Sazed. Too new. To love, to himself, to the world. Despite his confident, flirtatious, winning manner, he really knew nothing about what a relationship should - could - look like. He doesn’t think anything is amiss the first time Sazed raises a hand against him. Besides, he doesn’t hit him, just lifts up his hand. He dropped it right away, anyways. That wasn’t too bad, was it? It’s not like he had laid hands on him. That would be a deal-breaker, of course. But he was so kind, so gentle, so supportive, so loving the rest of the time. He held his hands and brushed his hair and kissed his lips with a kind of softness, a kind of  _ warmth _ that Taako craved, that he needed, that he couldn’t give up - so the first time that Sazed  _ had  _ hit him, he brushed it off with a laugh and a shrug, excusing it as a one-time thing, a mistake, an oddity. 

It wasn’t. They both knew it.

Taako was too damaged when he met Sazed. Too wounded, by life, by the world, by himself. Despite his arrogance and wit, he hated himself. Hated the way he couldn’t seem to allow himself to connect with anyone. Hated how alone - how horribly, terribly alone he was. Hated the way he let Sazed hurt him, leaving bruises and cuts and wounds all over his slender body. Hated himself for hating it. Hated himself for not being good enough for Sazed to  _ not  _ hit him. But he was nothing without his right-hand man. He would be nothing. He couldn’t be nothing. Not again. Never again.

_ Taako wept silently as he laid next to Sazed in their too small, too lumpy, too cold bed. The man was asleep, after wearing himself out with screaming and cursing and threatening and hurting and angry, angry, angry sex. It was okay, though. He deserved it. He always deserved it. He had fucked up the last show, after all. Introduced Sazed with a little too much trepidation in his voice. He had been a little too hesitant. A little too afraid. He knew he messed up by the way Sazed had pulled him a little too close, patted his back a little too firmly. He had trembled the entire rest of the show, knowing, dreading what came next. And then it was over. The curtains closed. The applause died. The audience left. And Taako was alone. With Sazed. His lover.  _

_ The human rolled over, draping an arm over the shaking elf’s chest. Taako tensed, drawing his knees into his chest to protect his stomach from the blows - but they never came. Instead, Sazed nuzzled against his neck, laying soft kisses up and down the freckled and bruised skin.  _

_ “Baby,” he started, and Taako shrunk into himself at the sound of his voice. “Baby, I’m so sorry. Fuck, Taako, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. God, I’m so sorry, please don’t leave me. It won’t happen again, I promise. I love you so much, Taako. I hope you know that. I don’t know what I would do without you.” _

_ He always said that. And Taako always nodded. Smiled. Kissed him back. Said it was okay, that all was forgiven, that he believed him. That he would never leave him. They ignored the bruises. They always did. Other times, the apologies were less soft, less full of forgiveness and love. Other times, Sazed would berate Taako. He was useless, ugly, worthless. Nobody would love him like Sazed did. He would be nothing without Sazed. Nobody would be as forgiving of his faults as Sazed would. Nobody would hold him when he cried like Sazed would. Nobody would want him like Sazed did. _

_ And Taako believed him.  _

_ And he kept believing him, even when he came running through the piles of bodies, grabbing his wrist, dragging him to their caravan, telling him that they had to run, that everything would be okay, that they just had to get out of there. He believed him when he said they had to keep driving, keep running, keep hiding. He believed him when he said they had finally gotten far away enough, that it had finally been long enough to stop. He believed him when he said he would always be there, that they would handle this together, that he wouldn’t let Taako go to prison, or worse. He kept believing him even when his tune changed, when he said that it was his fault, that he was a murder, that he was stupid. That the bruises he had blossomed on Taako’s face and thighs and chest and soul were necessary punishment. He even believed him when he apologized. When he said he would be right back. That he just needed a breath of fresh air. That he still loved him, and would never leave him.  _

_ Taako believed, and believed, and believed. And something inside him began to break. _


End file.
